Rapid Characterization of Additively Manufactured Aerospace Heat Exchangers
Metal heat exchangers and fluid management systems manufactured by selective laser melting 3D printing have significantly higher surface to volume ratios, are of lower weight and have a smaller footprint over traditional machined, brazed and assembled structures. Novel structures like gyroid cells can only be manufactured by 3D printing and are clearly advantageous in aerospace and space applications due to their improved efficiency and reduced size and lower weight[1].
Successful and economic additive manufacturing (AM) of these 3D printed parts requires careful examination of feedstocks—particularly when recycled powders are used—to assure the integrity of printed materials and maintain batch-to-batch consistency. With emerging new chemistries and metallurgies, it’s becoming increasingly important to not only measure the size and shape of the metal particles, but also identify and analyze potential contaminants in a fast, automated and reliable way.
In this presentation we will highlight how computer aided image processing techniques like adaptive super-pixel clustering and automation puts scanning electron microscopy (SEM) at the forefront of such analysis. With built-in Energy Dispersive Spectroscopy (EDS) capability we can now automatically and simultaneously analyze particle size distribution, morphology and impurities, three of the most critical characteristics of powders used in powder-bed and powder-fed AM processes.
A correlative microscopy workflow links these 2D measurements with subsequent 3D analysis of the finished parts through a combination of both non-destructive techniques (e.x. micro-CT) and microstructure and defect analysis (e.x. Plasma Focused Ion Beam). We will illustrate how such trend gives previously unavailable comprehensive insights for manufacturing and QC challenges while reducing the time-to-results from months to days or even dozens of hours.
What the attendees will learn:
- Electron microscopy plays a key role in particle shape/size measurement and analysis of microstructure and impurities in powders used for AM
[1] https://www.metal-am.com/articles/design-for-additive-manufacturing-a-workflow-for-a-metal-am-heat-exchanger-using-ntopology